I-440 #BeltlineJam settles into a long-term, 2-lane squeeze

How bad is it? Traffic on that three-mile elbow of the I-440 Beltline has been locked into the two-lane squeeze – in both directions – that drivers will be coping with until November or December.

Where are the worst delays? In what directions, and at what times of the day? How much longer does it take you to get to work now? What are you doing about it – leaving home earlier, finding a different route, carpooling, taking the bus?

I’ll be reporting on this Monday. Please let me know about your experience: Call me (919-829-4527) or email me ( bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com). Don’t forget to include your name and workday contact info, so I can call you back.

After weeks of cold and wet weather delays, the state Department of Transportation says drivers now have been shoved onto the outside lane and the shoulder, in both directions of I-440 for the full distance between I-40 in south Raleigh and U.S. 64/264 in east Raleigh.

A contractor is demolishing the two inside lanes and the median, and preparing to replace it with new pavement. Once that work is finished late this spring, traffic will be moved into the two inside lanes so that similar work can begin on the outside lanes. It’s part of a three-year, $130 million project to rebuild 11.5 miles of the southern Beltline

Late this year, more or less, this part of the Beltline will be finished and all lanes reopened. Then the more serious traffic delays will start on the more heavily traveled I-40 section of the Beltline across south Raleigh to Cary.

This blog is all about getting around in the Triangle. Bad drivers and traffic hassles. Gas taxes and transportation politics. Public transit and other auto alternatives. The blog is maintained by N&O transportation reporter Bruce Siceloff, whose Road Worrier column is published each Tuesday.